Asclepias
tuberosa Butterfly Milkweed potted plants are available $5.00
each plus Boxing/Shipping.
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Asclepias tuberosa
Butterfly Milkweed

approximate
number of seeds

approximate coverage
in square feet

1 packet - $2.50 +
shipping

100

25 sq ft

1 ounce -
$24.00

3685

180 sq ft

1 pound - $220.00

58,960

2,880 sq ft

Butterfly
Milkweed seeds may
be available at wholesale price for larger quantities

Asclepias
tuberosa, (Butterfly
milkweed, pleurisy root, chigger weed) is
a favorite wildflower of flower gardeners and butterflies. Often several
different species of butterflies are
feeding on Butterfly Milkweed's nectar at once and it is a favorite host plant for the Monarch butterfly caterpillar.
Asclepias tuberosa plants are topped with clusters of deep red to orange or pale yellow flowers on multiple stems rising
from a common base with each small flower having 5 curved petals surrounding 5 contrasting light pink to whitish hoods
provides
exquisite beauty. The plant typically blooms sometime
during June, July and August. Butterfly weed seeds germinate
without pretreatment.

Warning:
Milkweed may be toxic when taken internally, without sufficient
preparation.

Ethnobotanic:
Milkweed has been used for fiber, food, and medicine by people all over the
United States and southern Canada.Fibers
from the stems of milkweed have been identified in prehistoric textiles in the
Pueblo region.Tewa-speaking people
of the Rio Grande still make string and rope from these fibers.At the Zuni Pueblo, the silky seed fibers are spun on a hand-held wooden
spindle and made into yarn and woven into fabric, especially for dancers.Pueblo people ate green milkweed pods and uncooked roots from one of the
species that forms fleshy tubers underground.

Milkweeds supply tough fibers for making cords and ropes,
and for weaving a coarse cloth.Milkweed
stems are collected after the stalks senesce in late fall to early winter.The dried stalks are split open to release the fibers.Milkweed fibers are sometimes mixed with fibers of Indian-hemp (Apocynum
cannabinum).The bark is
removed and the fibers released by first rubbing between the hands and then
drawing the fibers over a hard surface.The
cord is formed by twisting the fiber opposite each other and
twining them together.Often this
is accomplished by rolling the fibers on the thigh, while twisting them
together.

The young shoots, stems, flower buds, immature fruits, and
roots of butterfly milkweed were boiled and eaten as a vegetable by various
indigenous groups of eastern and mid-western America.

Asclepias tuberosa
Butterfly Milkweed has many medicinal uses.The Omahas and Poncas ate the raw root of the butterfly milkweed for
bronchial and pulmonary troubles.Butterfly
milkweed root was also chewed and placed on wounds, or dried, pulverized, and
blown into wounds.The Omaha tribe
used butterfly milkweed medicine for rites belonging to the Shell Society.The Dakotas used the butterfly milkweed as an emetic.The Menominis considered the butterfly milkweed, which they called the
"deceiver," one of their most important medicines.

Generalized medicinal uses for milkweed species include 1)
its use in a salve for scrofulous swelling, 2) as a diarrhea medicine, 3) drunk
by mothers unable to produce milk, 4) medicine for snow blindness and other
forms of blindness, 5) relief of sore throat, 6) applied chewed root for
swelling and rashes, 7) to expel tapeworm, 8) to treat colic, 9) to act as
contraceptives, and 10) to cure snakebite.

European Americans used

Asclepias tuberosa
Butterfly Milkweed, called "pleurisy root", to relieve inflammation of the
lining of the lungs and thorax, and to relieve bronchial and pulmonary trouble.Pleurisy root is a stimulant to the vagus nerve, producing perspiration,
expectoration, and bronchial dilation.As
its name signifies, it is useful for pleurisy and mild pulmonary edema,
increasing fluid circulation, cilia function, and lymphatic drainage.The root of the butterfly milkweed, was officially listed in the U.S.
Pharmacopoeia from 1820 to 1905 and in the National Formulary from 1916 to 1936.

Milkweed species, as a group, are known to contain cardiac
glycosides that are poisonous both to humans and to livestock, as well as other
substances that may account for their medicinal effect.Resinoids, glycosides, and a small amount of alkaloids are present in all
parts of the plant.Symptoms of poisoning by the cardiac glycosides include
dullness, weakness, bloating, inability to stand or walk, high body temperature,
rapid and weak pulse, difficulty breathing, dilated pupils, spasms, and coma.

The cardiac glycoside in milkweed has also been useful as a
chemical defense for monarch butterflies (Danaus
plexippus).Chemicals from the
milkweed plant make the monarch caterpillar's flesh distasteful to most
predators.Monarch butterflies are
specific to milkweed plants.This
is the only type of plant on which the eggs are laid and the larvae will feed
and mature into a chrysalis. Eggs
are laid on the underside of young healthy leaves.Monarch, Queen, and Viceroy butterflies are Müllerian mimics, all are
toxic, and have co-evolved similar warning patterns to avoid predation.

Wildlife:
Milkweed species are attractive to many insect species, including the large
milkweed bug, common milkweed bug, red milkweed beetle, blue milkweed beetle,
and bees.Accordingly, this is a
wonderful horticultural plant for landscaping to attract butterflies
(particularly monarchs), whose numbers are declining and migratory routes
changing due to lack of appropriate habitat.Butterfly milkweed also has strikingly beautiful flowers.

Caution: At one
time,

Asclepias tuberosa
Butterfly Milkweed was classified as a noxious weed due to reported toxic effects on
livestock, and efforts were made to eradicate it.Milkweeds are thought to be poisonous to cows and sheep.Milkweed also can have invasive characteristics in disturbed areas.

Description

- General: Milkweed Family (Asclepiadaceae).Asclepias tuberosa
Butterfly Milkweed is a
perennial herb 3-9 dm tall with woody rootstocks.According to Kelly Kindscher (1992), "Asclepias comes from the name
of the Greek god of medicine, Asklepios.The
species name, tuberosa, means full of swellings or knobs, referring to the enlarged
root system."Butterfly
milkweed stems are hairy, erect, and grow in numerous clumps.There is a watery sap within the stems and leaves.The leaves are alternate, simple, crowded, lance-shaped, 5-10 cm long,
shiny green, smooth above and velvety beneath.The flowers are in showy, rounded to flat-topped groups near the ends of
branches.Each flower has 5 petals,
bent downward, orange to red or sometimes yellow, topped by a crown of 5 erect
hoods, each one containing a short horn.Fruits
are hairy, spindle-shaped pods 8-15 cm long.The numerous seeds each have a tuft of long white hairs at the tip.

Distribution -
Asclepias tuberosa
Butterfly Milkweed grow in clumps beside roadways, on abandoned
farmlands, and in other open areas throughout the United States.Butterfly milkweed grows on sandy, loamy, or rocky limestone soils of
prairies, open woodlands, roadsides, and disturbed areas similar to other
milkweed species.For current
distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page for this species on the
PLANTS Web site.

Establishment

Asclepias tuberosa
Butterfly Milkweed is easily propagated by both seed and
rhizome cuttings.Both seedlings
and cuttings will usually bloom in their second year, although cuttings will
occasionally bloom during their first year.Seeds and plants of selected cultivars are available from many nurseries.When the roots of the butterfly milkweed were more commonly harvested for
their medicinal use, the plants were dug when dormant in the late fall.Butterfly milkweed increases by underground shoots and can be invasive.It is ideal in semi-dry places where it can spread without presenting
problems for other ornamental species.

Seed Collections

Asclepias tuberosa
Butterfly Milkweed
is easily propagated from seed.Collect
seeds after the pods have ripened, but before they have split open.The seeds are wind dispersed, so be careful when gathering to place in a
paper or burlap bag to avoid losing them.Butterfly
milkweed seeds should be cold-treated for three months.Seeds can be directly sewn into the ground in the fall.The seed is very viable.It is not certain how long you can store the seeds.

Whole Plant Collections

Propagation by cuttings of the tuberous rhizome
of Asclepias tuberosa
Butterfly Milkweed is also
easy and reliable.The cuttings
should be made when the plant is dormant.Each
piece of the rhizome should have at least one bud (they are about two inches
apart).Timing of propagation is
important.Harvest or divide Asclepias tuberosa
Butterfly Milkweed plants
and get the plants in the ground by late fall so they can develop enough root
growth to survive the winter.Irrigation
the first year will improve survival, and by the second year the root system
should be well enough established so plants will survive on their own.Both seedlings and cuttings will usually bloom in their
second year, although cuttings will occasionally bloom during their first year (Kindscher
1992).